


After the Barrier

by smallameangel



Series: Frans Week Short Stories [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Teenage Frisk, Teenage Sans, Younger Brother Sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:05:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9689852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallameangel/pseuds/smallameangel
Summary: Day 5 forfransweek'stumblr challenge!Frisk sets up a surprise date with Sans in order to make up for the flop that was their dinner at MTT Resort.





	

It was the day after their perilous trek through the Underground, and Frisk woke up bright and early, peeking their head out of their make-shift tent to watch the sunrise. There were a few tents out and about near the entrance to the Underground, belonging to the monsters who knew that the barrier had broken. Toriel, Sans and Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, and Alphys each had tents set up next to theirs, though the monsters’ were far less well made than the young human’s. 

Asgore had decided to remain in Dreemurr Castle in case any subjects came for advice. It was best to keep the rest of the monster population in the dark until they were sure that it was safe to initiate a mass exodus from beneath the mountain.

The scrawny teenager quietly scrambled out of their glorified blanket fort and dashed back into the mountain, rushing past everything and everyone as quickly as possible. They made their way to Muffet’s bakery stand in Hotland in thirty minutes flat, their chest heaving and their limbs heavy from exertion. They had saved up quite a bit of money and now unloaded it all onto Muffet’s counter, buying two spider ciders and four spider donuts at the horrendously steep, but discounted, price of 5555G each. It was definitely better than their full price, and Frisk happily payed, bagging the goods and making their way back to the surface.

Sans crawled out of his brother’s magnificently shoddy tent, his SOUL pounding with excitement as he blipped up to the top of a tree to watch the sun finish its ascent into the sherbet colored sky. The previous day, they had seen a sunset, and now, he was watching the sunrise, and there was real grass and trees and animals surrounding him and the air was so fresh. His mind buzzed with unbound joy as he repeated those thoughts over and over again, his eyes taking in every last glorious detail of the free world around him.

Frisk quietly made their way out of the cave and back to their tent, storing their surprise goods before looking around to see if anyone else was up and about. Their nimble fingers combed through their bedhead hair, scratching their head with their nails as they peeked into each tent. Surprisingly enough, Papyrus was fast asleep and Sans was awake. The teen looked around before giving up and climbing to the top of a large fir in an attempt to get a better view of the ground below.

* hey updog.

The velvety smooth sound of Sans’ deep voice drifted to their ears as they reached the final branches of the fir. Frisk turned to see the younger skeleton sitting pretty in a nearby tree, his grin slightly larger than usual.

* What’s Updog? the human responded innocently, surprise flashing over their usually placid features as they watched their friend crack up laughing.

* haha… come on! think about it kiddo. what’s up dog? Sans choked out, his voice cracking awkwardly as he laughed hysterically.

The pair of teens laughed even harder when Frisk finally figured out how Sans had tricked them. His jokes were far too corny, but it was what had attracted the young human to the skeleton to begin with. Their laughter drifted down the mountain in peals, some birds flying up to meet them while wolves and foxes howled in glee along with them.

COME DOWN HERE AT ONCE! YOU’RE SCARING THE WILDLIFE WITH YOUR RIDICULOUS JOKES! Papyrus screeched from below them.

The two friends sighed and shook their heads. Perhaps a joke wasn’t the best way to wake Sans’ older bro, even if the two of them had a fondness for puns. 

Sans blipped back down to solid ground, doing his best to appease his brother with a slew of perfectly placed puns while Frisk climbed back down. It seemed as though the entire group was already awake. Toriel was setting up breakfast while the others discussed their plans to search for a suitable place for a monster town.

* Breakfast pie is served everyone! Toriel called out as Frisk jumped the last few branches down. * Come, let us discuss the day’s plans around the campfire.

The small group clambered around the magical fire as it crackled and burned a bright and soothing golden orange. Frisk sat next to Undyne, who had not so sneakily snagged Alphys and placed the trembling lizard in her lap. Toriel gave a disapproving look, but Frisk grinned, nudging the fish-woman in the ribs and giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. Mettaton waved off the motherly monster’s concern, his eyes filled with stars as he watched his creator and friend turn the brightest hue of red imaginable. Sans chuckled as he plopped down next to Frisk, with Papyrus taking the last seat next to Toriel.

Monsters and human alike dug into the food before them, relishing every morsel of their pies, regardless of the number of snail shells found hiding within. Sans and Frisk shifted the shells around in their pies as they ate around them, desperately holding back their laughter as they listened to Papyrus crunching loudly next to them.

* Papyrus dear, you needn't eat all of the shells at once, Toriel cooed. * I am the first to admit that snail pie is an acquired taste.

FEAR NOT MY QUEEN, THE SHELLS BRING AN INTERESTING TEXTURE TO YOUR DELICIOUS PIE! Papyrus hastily replied, bits of shell in various crushed states flying out of his mouth as he spoke.

The group began planning their day in earnest as they finished up their hearty breakfast. It was decided that the friends would separate into four groups and meet back in the evening to debrief. Toriel and Frisk would go down the west side of mountain, Sans would take the north, Papyrus would take the South, and Alphys and Undyne would take the east. Mettaton would stay at camp, taking the role of cellphone tower, in order to keep their communication line active. It was crude, but ingenious. If any group got into trouble, texting to keep in contact would be imperative.

Sans sighed as he made his way down his side of the mountain. There was no way he could cheat through teleportation; it was far too difficult to rip through space-time without any knowledge of his surroundings. This would be a difficult and tiring day.

Time had passed quicker than Frisk thought it would. They had raced down the mountain with Toriel in tow, finding nothing but an almost endless sea of wild grass and tiny flowers at the bottom of their part of the mountain. The two beings had happily eaten Papyrus’ leftover spaghetti for lunch before making an array of flower and grass crowns, bracelets, and necklaces to bring back to the group. 

Their texts with the rest of the scouting parties had turned up much the same. No humans or settlements for miles around. Papyrus had followed a stream down his side of the mountain that had turned into a large river by the time he had reached the bottom. After speaking with their companion, Toriel had agreed that that would be the perfect place to make a monster town. Alphys and Undyne had continued walking for another hour through their section of plains until they had reached an endless expanse of salty water. Frisk offered the idea of a secondary seaside town to accommodate the needs of water monsters, which Undyne had enthusiastically agreed to. Sans had found a much denser forest at the bottom of his end of the mountain. Mettaton had butted into their conversation to state that it would be perfect as building supplies for the various houses they would need to erect.

Now, it was evening, and everyone was together once again. The trek back up the mountain had been tiring, but there was no way that Frisk was going to fall asleep without putting their plan into action. The group had dinner together, Toriel’s magical fire warming the cool air around them, the quiet crackles of the burning wood peppering their conversations. It was decided that they would all go back into the mountain the next morning to deliver the news and begin the controlled exodus.

For Frisk, it was now or never. Surely, the group would be busy helping other monsters for the foreseeable future. The monsters and human said their goodnights and retreated to their tents, Frisk keeping as quiet as possible as they folded up their large, grey blanket and stuffed it into the travel bag they had brought along their journey through the Underground. They waited a good forty minutes before leaving their tent and heading further up the mountain to another clearing. The somewhat sleepy human set up their surprise before texting Sans, praying that he had put his phone on silent for bedtime.

The sleeping skeleton shifted uncomfortably as he felt the buzz from his cell phone jolt him awake. He shoved his left hand into his jacket pocket, fumbling around as he draped his blanket over his head to stop the light from his phone from waking up Papyrus. It had been pretty hard to get his brother to fall asleep, what with all of the excitement of the future looming over them, and the tired skeleton had no intention of reading another Fluffy Bunny book. His eye sockets widened in surprise as he pulled up the text that had woken him.

 _the frisky one 8:37_  
« Hey, Sans. Can you meet me outside? »

 _Punmaster 8:38_  
«  why? did ya miss my jokes today? »

 _the frisky one 8:39_  
« Just meet me in the clearing above the cave entrance, you lazy bag of bones. »

Almost instantly, the young skeleton appeared in front of Frisk’s eyes as they sat on their blanket, the spider cider and spider donuts spread out invitingly at one end of the makeshift picnic blanket. The human gently smiled and patted the empty space next to them.

* heya kiddo. what’s all this for? Sans chuckled as he settled down next to his friend.

* To say thanks. For helping me, I mean. Don’t think your crappy threat at the MTT Resort worked for a second, alright? I know you were looking out for me the entire time I was down there.

* yeah, sorry ‘bout that one. that joke was in bad taste, the skeleton admitted sheepishly as he grabbed a donut and shoved it into his face.

* No worries. I didn’t believe you for a second after how you distracted Undyne from chasing me in Hotland. That was brilliant, honestly.

* heh, thanks buddy.

The pair sat in silence for a while, munching and drinking as they looked out into the dark pastel horizon, tall buildings looming around the mountain nearest them. Frisk shuddered as they thought of the poverty and miserable life they had run away from. Sans draped his arm over their shoulders, pulling them closer until he could feel the weight of their head leaning against him. Night had finally fallen, the lights from the city outlining the myriad of windows in the tall buildings, a stark contrast to the tiny stars shining in the sky.

* that’s the only human city around here. gonna go back to it? he inquired.

* Never.

Sans choked a bit on his last bite of donut. His friend’s voice had been so cold and emotionless in their one word response. The skeleton quickly downed the rest of his cider in an effort to clear the magical blockage in his system before replying.

* woah, that’s a harsh thing to say. don’t you have friends and family over there?

Frisk sighed, tossing the empty jar of cider into their open bag. That’s not how they wanted this date to go. First dates were supposed to be happy and romantic, not dreary and laden with emotional baggage. They tested the waters, snuggling further into the skeleton’s arms and yawning. It really was getting to be too late.

* I don’t count our dinner together as a proper date, so would you mind keeping this real one happier?

* this is a date? Sans laughed, his ribcage heaving slightly at the thought.

* Yes. I’ve dated everyone else, Frisk said in a very matter-of-fact tone. * So I figured it was only fair to give you a try, too. Besides, we’re the ones closest in age, aren’t we?

* well, i guess you’re right, he replied awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. * sure, why not. it’s a date.

The human hummed happily in reply, clearing off the blanket of any rubbish and pulling it over them to keep warm. Sans watched quietly as a mischievous grin overtook the human teen’s face as they pounced on him.

* hey! what’re yo— he cried as his back hit the soft ground and his gaze fell on the field of stars laid out above them. * woah…

* THIS is what I wanted to show you, Frisk whispered as they settled in the crook of Sans’ boney armpit, the blanket covering them both.

* real stars… never thought i’d live to see them myself, he breathed out, his eyes scanning the vastness of space as it glimmered before him.

* I thought you’d like this. Papyrus mentioned that you’re really into outer-space and stuff, the human yawned in reply.

Sans and Frisk laid there, the sleepy human snuggling into the boney boy’s arms. Despite their best efforts to stay awake, their eyes began to droop, and they tugged on a sleeve to get their friend’s attention one last time.

* Do we need to end this date, or can we sleep through it?

* there’s nothing wrong with sleeping through it if you’re cool with that, the skeleton yawned, his jaw unhinging slightly with a pop. * can’t think of a nicer way to fall asleep anyway. let’s do it again sometime.

* Tomorrow? Frisk asked as their eyes finally closed.

* sure thing frisky. tomorrow.

And with that, Sans felt his friend’s breathing slow, their body relaxing as he kept his arms around them. His boney eyelids were starting to get heavy from feeling the sleeping body curled into him. The exhausted skeleton gazed up at the sky one last time before drifting off to sleep. It had been an interesting few days, but he could get used to this change of pace.


End file.
